You are here
Hoping to turn party around, Ron Paul seeks Republican presidential nomination
By Gary Martin
San Antonio (Texas) Express-News
Monday, March 12, 2007
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031307.03A.Ron-Paul.3...
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ron Paul of Texas formally announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination Monday, saying people want to hear his libertarian message of limited government -- and he's willing to deliver it.
Paul, of Surfside, also announced he will seek re-election to an 11th term in Congress under Texas state law that allows candidates to run for more than one federal office.
The congressman made the announcements during a televised interview on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" program.
Paul said he has raised more than $500,000 on the Internet for the race and was surprised by the support he has received.
"A lot of people want to hear my message," Paul said. "I am willing to deliver it."
This will be the second presidential bid for Paul, 71, who ran as a Libertarian in 1988. He placed third with 0.5 percent of the vote.
A staunch critic of the Iraq war, Paul derided government wasteful spending in that war-torn country during the half-hour television program.
He also criticized federal efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Paul derided the federal government handouts after the devastating storm and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's handling of the cleanup and aftermath, which sent hundreds of house trailers to Louisiana, many that were unused and left to rot.
Paul said he is running for the Republican presidential nomination to restore the party -- which he said has become the party of big government -- and return to a noninterventionist foreign policy.
"The American people are sick and tired of what they are getting," Paul said. "I'm confident the Republican Party has gone in the wrong direction."
A doctor, Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies and is an anti-abortion candidate. He supports medicinal marijuana and has argued for a repeal of America's drug war laws.
* * *
Ron Paul's Internet site:
* * *
Help Keep GATA Going
GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at www.GATA.org. GATA is grateful for financial contributions, which are federally tax-deductible in the United States.
